Frisky

This morning my first class was cancelled because my professor lives outside of town, and I guess something froze and snapped off the railway crossing that he needs to cross to come into town.  He wrote, "I'm literally on the wrong side of the tracks!"  Because he cancelled, I decided not to bother to go to my other class today because the professor is a little rambley anyway, and I rarely take notes as it is.  Even though we had the severe wind chill warning still, I decided to have a day with Walker instead.  And thus ends my complaints about the weather.  It was cold.  I got over it.

That being said, I decided to pull out the quarter sheet that my mother got Walker for Christmas.  I never could find an excuse to use it before because this Winter has been a pretty warm one all around, and sometimes I'm just so in a rush at the barn, that I'd rather just chuck his tack on as fast as I can and go.  I'm not 100% convinced about their effectiveness, but at least I know his rump was warm!

It also made him kind of look fat, but I checked the online ad when I got home, and apparently that is supposed to be how it fits.  I just can't help but think about how his tummy is showing and how it is pulled tightly over his body.  Oh well.  It's not supposed to be a blanket anyway.

It makes me laugh that you can see his tubby tummy

Walker was pretty frisky today, which wasn't surprising considering his run like a lunatic last night.  I didn't lunge him, and he pranced around and threw his head for a few minutes, but he's always lazy at heart, so once we got working, he calmed down.  It was kind of nice to have that energy at the beginning though because when I got him cantering, I actually kept him cantering with fairly little reinforcement - which is a big deal for Walker, the king of "I'm not working hard unless you are too".  Since I had the day off, I intended to ride for a full hour instead of the short 30 - 40 minute ride that I normally have to do on Thursdays because of class, but when I got out there, he was coughing a lot and making weird sounds, so I figured that it might not be the best idea to overwork his lungs in the cold air.  We only ended up riding for 30 - 35 minutes, and then I took him back out to let him run free and gallop for a few minutes to get any leftover wiggles out.  I tried to catch some of that on video, but to no avail.  The sun was shining in on the arena in just the wrong way. :(

Other than that, I gave the pony some love and alfafa, and I gave him some extra special loving in the grooming department.  I am kind of known at my barn for being a super fast tacker upper, and I am also usually quick in the grooming department too.  I can't help it.  Walker just doesn't get that dirty!  So today, I brushed his tail a little bit and loving went over his body with the nice new soft brush I bought to replace the one he destroyed.

I know I've probably said this before, but Walker is blessed with some serious luscious locks.  I love it!  This is his tail after I trimmed it so that it wasn't dragging on the floor anymore.  I can't wait until the summer when I can wash him (including his less than white socks) and throw some conditioner in that tail so that it can be all that it can be.

Tomorrow I'm out to the barn in the afternoon to see my boy, and if it's warm enough, we might try a little crossrail again.  Then I'm home for the night to go to a baby shower on Saturday afternoon.  I'll be back to the barn on Sunday where we'll have our obligatory useless but fun hack with friends. :)